Friday, April 27, 2007

A Higher Calling

Don’t’ worry, this will get political before too long!

As Christians we like to say we have a higher calling. Well, some of us anyway. It drives us to try to be better people, to actually care about those around us that might be a bit of a pain in the butt at times and to also go out and do some good in the community. We consider the Word to be that calling and I think that right.

Many within the faith also consider forgiveness a big part of their lives. They are correct. Forgiveness frees us from guilt, the driving force that leads to further sin. With forgiveness there is a peace. In that peace we find purpose. Purpose is a wonderful thing.

Forgiveness is apart from the secular world. Yes, we are told to forgive others so that we ourselves may be forgiven, but I consider public service a higher calling. Public servants are beholden not just to God, but to the people. And the people deserve more than “ I don’t remember, I don’t recall…”

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez used variations of that phrase 34 times I am told. This from one of the top legal minds in the country, or at least the man that holds that position in our government. (It may well be that he isn’t so smart, considering who appointed him and the history of that person’s appointments, but anyway…) Still, Mr. Gonzalez must have done well in school, been able to memorize large chunks of law and all the tidbits of related material. I don’t imagine him to have many memory impairments by any means.

But he can’t recall who set up meetings within the past six months, what was said at those meetings, who was there, or what the outcome was. He can’t recall how decisions were reached or who participated in the discussion. He can’t remember anything at all. (Thanks Peter Gabriel, for those that follow that link)

Something is very wrong with the legalities of our political system, and that something is accountability. There is none. The lawyers/politicians we have elected over the years have created a space in which they can do as they please, lie when needed, and deny anything simply by “not remembering. If the man had any sense of decency he would plead the fifth. But no, he is a coward. He has no conviction to say what his real intent is. He denies having any memory of what he has done.

We have to ask ourselves what the purpose was behind the firing of those judges. Could it be covering for even more upcoming election fraud? That would be my primary take on it with no supporting evidence. I am still amazed that some of my Republican friends think that the last election was on the up and up. Or maybe they are happy to have gotten away with it and hope for further success in subverting democracy in the future.

Condoleeza Rice is up next. Oh boy. She’s already saying that she won’t respond, that she’s answered all those questions before. Giving the sense of a badgered servant of the people that has more important things to do than to report what she has done she invokes executive privilege and that appalls me.

There has been quite a bit of press about the email trail of both the firings of the judges and, to a lesser degree about the emails sent on GOP accounts during the last election and the days following, specifically in Ohio, where many votes were possibly deleted and voter fraud was perpetrated in widely Democratic Party voting precincts. Those emails have been “disappeared.” That alone should be considered an admission of guilt.

Elected officials should have no rights of privacy in any of their public service, nor in any regard to any communications relating to that service. They should be willing, no glad, to provide transparency to their workings, and proud of the decisions they make. Given that employees have no rights of privacy to the email on their computers at work these servants of the people should have similar rights, and any in the Republican party that have had a part in the widespread deletion of email records should be judged by mans law as the criminals they are.

As for lack of memory, an elected official that can’t remember things of great importance that took place within the last six months should be considered incompetent and removed from office immediately.

How can the will of the people be done? Is it possible to impeach Bush and Chaney at the same time and would that mean .... Nancy Pelosi would be the first woman president?

6 Comments:

I am new to this blog, but I'm wondering just what you mean when you call yourself a "Christian Democrat."I define myself as a Christian Democrat, but in the center-right tradition of European Christian Democrats, who are called “conservatives” in the context of European politics.I am a Christian Democrat, but my views are little in common with the Democratic Party USA.

Hi Eslaporte -The title "Christian Democrat" is meant in the U.S. sense of the words as relates to politics. "Christian" transcends politics, of course. It is not an organized national movement here, with this blog being maintained by one person. I would consider myself a moderate Democrat in most things.

I sure wish we would impeach Bush and Cheney for war crimes. They've set almost everything in this country back 30+ years, and we'll be MANY years trying to repair the damage they've done. I'm to the point that I just wish they'd both die of natural causes soon. Harsh, I know, but losing 2 people to save 655,000 more would be a good trade-off.

Yeah, I'm almost with you, Playtah, except for them to die of natural causes, or die at all, would keep a part of the healing process of their conviction for crimes from being felt.

It is a sign of the weakness of the Democratic Party that impeachment isn't already in progress. The GOP wanted to impeach Clinton for lying about sex but for this administration to lie about war and affect cronyism to the worst degree isn't reason to impeach? Sorry, but in politics turnabout is fair play. For the Democratic Party to go soft at this time is foolishness. There is no healing the rifts between the parties, only a play of conciliation on the behalf of the GOP. The GOP will have their fangs back out if ever given control again.

Perhaps a national referendum on removal of this administration would be a better way to do it. If a law could be passed quickly allowing this the voice of the people would be heard and history written.

Let me, most respectfully (and as a sister), ask: "What does anything in the last post have to do with issues, other than waste time and efforts?" As Christian Democrats our concerns are on human dignity and justice, proper governance and a humanized economy especially for the millions of disenfranchised in America. Clinton’s sins and the sins of GOP members are not issues and are highly counterproductive. The above have nothing to do with human needs issues, but are non-issues and a lot of useless noise. Our “higher calling” is to advocate for the “poor, the widow and the fatherless.”

What we need in America is not another useless and counterproductive issue of impeaching President Bush or the attempt to impeach Clinton. Clinton’s infidelity has nothing to add in insuring that Americans have their basic needs met. Any national referendum should be in the form of a human dignity amendment to the Bill of Rights.

eslaporte - I appreciate and thank you for your kind tone, and agree that the issues you mention are among the most important. That said, the longevity of the control that the Dems need to get these done requires a plan to maintain that control of the house, the senate, and hopefully the presidency.

Much as (I think it will come out) that the RNC and Karl Rove worked feverishly to get control of courts and voting records to maintain their desired control, the Dems need to come out strongly against malfeasance from lowest to highest levels. This congress must be the cleanest in history, and prove itself so. Those actions will win the hearts and votes of the American public.

About Me

I'm a husband, a father, a Christian, a worker, a golfer, a driver, a gardener, a fixer-of-things, a reader and a writer.
Writing ChristianDemocrat.us since 2004 has been a part of my personal growth in faith and in politics.
I want an America that is GREAT for all it's citizens, where those of faith, all faiths, as well as those without faith can communicate peacefully with each other and work towards common good.